Andy Burnham is all but Prime Minister. The only real question now is what kind.
The contest is over before it began. What's undecided is the Chancellor, the Cabinet, and whether the boldest instincts survive their first contact with the markets and the welfare bill. Either way, the direction is set, and the timetable is short. The ideas – and the people – arrive before he enters Number 10 on 20 July.
Government is on pause until he takes office: no major policy, no new spending. Decisions sitting in Whitehall wait to be made. Influence is shifting north and toward the metro mayors, and the test applied to regulated sectors is changing – from compliance toward demonstrable public benefit.
This report is your map of the transition: the situation, the process that makes him PM, the people who will run his government, the policies he's signalled, and what it all means for you.
Our updated report has all you need to know about what a Burnham Government might look like: click here to download the report.
